MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: Angels order full investigation as to who supplied Skaggs with painkillers; Muncy out at least 10 days with wrist fracture; plus more

Photo credit: tmz.com

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs who passed away at age 27 the autopsy showed that Skaggs took “alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication with terminal aspiration of gastric contents” according to a statement released by the Angels. Skaggs choked on his own vomit when the Angels were in Arlington in preparation to play the Texas Rangers, but on the day Skaggs passed away, the game was canceled due to his death.

#2 The Angels released a statement saying that the team will not rest until it gets a full investigation as to who supplied Skaggs with the painkillers and alcohol. The Skaggs family along with the Angels said that the team has hired Texas attorney Rusty Hardin to help with the investigation.

#3 The Los Angeles Dodgers have placed Max Muncy on the 10-day IL due to a wrist fracture. Muncy hopes not to miss more than 10 days and has 33 home runs and 87 RBIs this season. Muncy took a pitch on the wrist as he prepared to swing the pitch was expected to break away but jammed him.

#4 San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey hit in the five-hole for the first time this season on Thursday night. Giants manager Bruce Bochy made the move stating that Posey hitting .246 with six home runs and 35 RBIs was a “change of scenery move.” Posey went 1-4 on Thursday night against San Diego and hit fifth again on Friday night.

#5 Hurricane Dorian was upgraded to a category four and is headed for Miami. The Miami Marlins reportedly will leave three panels of the roof of their park open to avoid giving lift to the roof. The hatches are baton down, but the question remains what condition the park will be in after the storm and what impact will Dorian have on the community in order for the Marlins to continue play. The Fish are scheduled to host the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Matt Harrington does the MLB The Show podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Posey comes up in the clutch to win the game for the Giants 6-5

By Jeremy Kahn

Buster Posey is a three-time World Champion, a former Rookie of the Year and a Most Valuable Player award winner, and he can still come up with the big hit when it is needed most.

Posey hit a two-run pinch-hit double that scored Austin Slater and Kevin Pillar, as the San Francisco Giants came back to defeat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 at Coors Field.

The Posey double that could not be stopped by right fielder Charlie Blackmon, came  off of losing pitcher Carlos Estevez.

Joe Panik came off the bench to bat for Zach Green, and walked against Estevez. Following the walk to Panik, Estevez gave up a single to Slater that sent Panik to second, where Pillar was sent into run for him.

Posey came off the bench to pinch-hit for Sam Coonrod, and gave the Giants the lead, when he doubled up the alley.

After the Posey double, Brandon Belt walked and that was the end of the line for Estevez, who was replaced by Sam Howard, who promptly hit Mike Yastrzemski to load the bases with one out. Howard then regrouped to strike out Pablo Sandoval swinging, and then got out of the jam, when he got Stephen Vogt to fly out to left to end the inning.

Things got off to a fast start for the Giants, as they scored four runs in the top of the first inning off of Rockies starter Jon Gray.

Yastrzemski got the first inning rally started, as he walked against Gray and then scored on a Pablo Sandoval double.

Brandon Crawford then singled in Sandoval, and on the throw home, Crawford moved up to second. Scooter Gennett then hit his first home run as a Giant, a two-run shot that was measured at 413 feet.

Ryan McMahon got the Rockies on the board in the bottom of the second inning, as he grounded out to second base which scored Daniel Murphy from third base. Murphy led off the inning with a double that landed in between Yastrzemski and Steven Duggar.

Trevor Story got the Rockies within one run in the bottom of the third inning, as he hit a two-run home run off of Madison Bumgarner.

The Giants started another rally in the top of the fourth inning, as Bumgarner singled to left and went to third on a Belt double; however, the rally ended when Yastrzemski grounded out to end the inning.

Blackmon tied up the game, as he led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run to center field.

Three batters later, Murphy gave the Rockies the lead, as he doubled to right field and Nolan Arenado scored on a Gennett throwing error. Arenado singled to center just before the Murphy double.

Duggar then made the play of the game, as he leaped over the fence to rob Ian Desmond of a potential two-run home run.

“Pretty incredible that he got up there,” said Bumgarner.

The fifth inning was it for Bumgarner, who threw 91 pitches in those five innings. Bumgarner gave up five runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out two.

After Bumgarner left the game, the new Giants bullpen bounced back from a rough outing on Friday night to get the Giants the victory.

The quartet of Trevor Gott, Sam Coonrod, Tony Watson and Will Smith pitched the final four innings, allowing four hits, walking just one and striking out six.

Coonrod threw a perfect seventh inning, as he picked up his second win of the season.

Despite giving up two hits in the bottom of the ninth inning, Smith picked up his 27th save of the season, as he struck out the side to end the game.

NOTES: Ty Blach, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, was claimed off of waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.

Dan Winkler, who was acquired in the Mark Melancon from the Atlanta Braves and was immediately designated for assignment, cleared waivers and was outrighted to triple-A Sacramento.

UP NEXT: Tyler Beede will close out the series and the road trip, as he looks for his fourth win of the season, while the Rockies will send Kyle Freeland to the hill.

Posey’s grand slam wins it for the Giants 10-7

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

Buster Posey came up with the biggest hit of the night when the San Francisco Giants needed it the most.

Posey launched a grand slam off the scoreboard in left-center field, helping the Giants to a 10-7 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

The grand slam by Posey was the fifth of his career, and it was set up after Joe Panik led off the inning with a single, Mike Yastrzemski walked and Brandon Belt singled. Posey took the first pitch he saw from Matt Albers over the wall.

Will Smith blew his first save of the season in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he gave up a leadoff triple to Christian Yelich and then two batters later, Mike Moustakas tied up the game, when grounded out to Joe Panik.

Brandon Crawford gave the Giants the lead in the top of the ninth inning, as he hit a solo home run off of Brewers closer Josh Hader and it was the second home run in as many innings that Hader surrendered.

Tyler Austin tied up the game in the top of the eighth inning, as he hit a solo home run to right field.

The Brewers took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Ryan Braun doubled Yasmani Grandal and Moustakas to tie up the game and then took the lead when Eric Thames singled in Braun.

Evan Longoria hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to give them their first lead of the game that scored Posey.

Austin Slater tied up the game in the top of the fifth inning, as he an opposite field home run that scored Kevin Pillar in front of Slater.

Keston Hiura gave the Brewers the lead in the bottom of the second inning, as he singled off of Giants starter Shaun Anderson.

Thames doubled in Braun in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead and then one-half inning later, Slater tied it up.

Anderson went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out eight, as he did not fare in the decision.

It was a season-high eight strikeouts for Anderson, who struck out Yelich on three different occasions.

Brewers starter Chase Anderson left with the lead, as he also went five innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out five.

Hiura drove in the final run of the game in the bottom of the 10th inning, as he hit his eighth home run of the season off of Mark Melancon.

Despite blowing his first save of the season, Smith ended up picking up his second win of the season.

NOTES: This was the first time that the Giants hit more than four home runs since April 23, 2014 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, when they hit six.

UP NEXT: Madison Bumgarner makes his return to the mound, as he is ready to pitch after leaving Sundays game at Oracle Park, when he was smacked on the elbow on a Jose Martinez liner.

Zach Davies will take the mound for the Brewers, as he makes his second start of the season against the Giants. Davies lost to the Giants on June 14 at Oracle Park, and is 0-2 with a 2.81 ERA in his three career starts.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: MadBum gets win in 7 innings of work; Where’s Bumgarner in trade talks?

sfgate photo: San Francisco Giant starter Madison Bumgarner who pitched seven innings Sunday at Oracle Park in San Francisco is rumored to be showcased and no doubt shopped by other clubs in the run at the trade deadline this month.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Kevin Pillar and Buster Posey provided the punch that got the San Francisco Giants over the top against their inner division team rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks with seven combined hits from Pillar and Posey. What got into them?

#2 Madison Bumgarner was on the mark in the Giants’ 10-4 win Sunday, pitching seven innings, surrendering one hit and four runs, striking out nine.

#3 Bumgarner has been working the count, picking his spots, keeping hitters of balance. It’s as almost if he’s showcasing with all the talk about going to be a rent a player, he’s always on, but teams are shopping. Here we are in July, the trade deadline is coming, will Bumgarner stay or will the Giants keep him?

#4 Since the subject of the trade deadline and the month of July is here, will the Giants be dealing this month who stays and who’s getting shopped?

#5 The Giants are at Petco Park tonight to take on the San Diego Padres. The Giants will start Jeff Samardzija (4-7, 4.52 ERA) going up against the San Diego Padres’ Logan Allen (2-0, 1.38 ERA).

Listen for the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Monday with Morris Phillips at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Pillar and Posey help Bumgarner get fifth win defeat Diamondbacks 10-4

photo by sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Kevin Pillar, right, celebrates with Evan Longoria (10) after hitting a two-run home run off Arizona Diamondbacks’ Robbie Ray in the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 30, 2019, in San Francisco.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Kevin Pillar and Buster Posey helped out Madison Bumgarner with their bats in the series finale.

Pillar and Posey combined for seven hits, while Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits, walking no one and striking out nine and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4 before 31,778 at Oracle Park.

With the victory, the Giants ended the month of June with a record of 14-13, their first winning month since going 18-10 in June of 2018.

It was a Pillar two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning that got the Giants going, as he hit his 11th home run of the season.

Pillar added a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning that helped the Giants to the victory and split the four-game series.

Posey doubled in the bottom of the first inning, and then singled in the third and fifth innings, before walking to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning for Evan Longoria with nobody out.

The three hits by Posey match his season-high and marked his second three-hit game in three appearances. During the span, Posey is hitting .750 (6-for-8) with two doubles, two runs scored and two runs batted in.

Pillar hit a solo home run, singled twice and hit a double, as it was his first four-hit since July 13, 2018 for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

It was the fifth four-hit game of Pillars career, who picked up two during the 2017 season and one during the 2015 season.

The five runs batted in by Pillar are a career-high, to go along with his career-high tying four hits.

Longoria then singled in Brandon Belt, who walked to lead off the inning against reliever Matt Andriese. Pillar then followed it up with his fourth hit of the game, as he singled to left to score pinch hitter Alex Dickerson, who singled while pinch hitting for Tyler Austin, who walked and struck out twice before leaving the game.

Mike Yastrzemski got in on the act, as he hit a two-run double to left field to score Longoria and Pillar.

The sixth and final run of the inning came when pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval singled off of T.J. McFarland that scored Yastrzemski.

In all, the Giants sent 10 men to the plate, scored six runs on five hits, as they blew the game wide open.

The Diamondbacks attempted to get back into the game in the top of the eighth inning, as they scored three runs off of reliever Derek Rodriguez.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was ejected in the top of the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate Mike Muchlinski, and it was fourth all-time ejection for Lovullo in his managerial career.

It was not a good day for Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray, who went just four innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking three and striking out five and saw his record fall to 5-6 on the season.

NOTES: With the nine strikeouts on the afternoon, Bumgarner tied Tim Lincecum for second place all-time in San Francisco Giants lore with 1,704.

Juan Marichal is the all-time San Francisco Giants leader in strikeouts with 2,281

Will Smith was named as the lone All-Star for the Giants, as he is 1-0 with a 2.16 earned run average with 21 saves in 21 chances this season for the Giants.

Smith is the first Giants left-handed reliever to go to the All-Star Game since Gary Lavelle made the All-Star team in 1983

The 21 saves to start the season are the second most by a Giants reliever to start a season, trailing only Rod Beck who saved 28 in a row to begin the 1994 season.

In his Giants career, Smith is tied for second place with Craig Lefferts with 35 saves by a left-hander, Lavelle is currently the all-time leader in saves for a left-hander with 127.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija takes the mound on Monday night, as the Giants open a brief three-game road trip against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Padres will counter with Logan Allen.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Bochy says it’s the worst season he’s seen in awhile

@BruceBochy file photo: San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy says this has been the worst season in awhile for the struggling Giants, who are on a five-game losing streak.

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the San Francisco Giants. The basics: no hitting and no pitching. Manager Bruce Bochy says its the worst season he’s seen in awhile.

#2 Up and down the lineup, they’re just not getting the hitting or run support from Joe Panik .245, Steve Duggar .242, Buster Posey .252,Brandon Belt .229, Evan Longoria .225, and Brandon Crawford .200.

#3 The Giants have also been lacking in their pitching help. For example, starters Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Suarez, and Shaun Anderson have pitched 11 2/3 innings and allowed 20 runs

#4 One item that has been discussed is local businesses have struggled near the ballpark. Merchants have said business has been down by half or worse and some say no one is coming into their business.

#5 Giants have a much-needed day off before heading to Florida. Starting for SF, Jeff Samardzija (2-3, 3.27 ERA) vs. the Marlins Trevor Richards (1-5, 4.14 ERA).

Morris does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Panik’s walk-off gives Giants huge 4-3 win

Orovillemr.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Joe Panik watches his two-run single in front of Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann during the ninth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The Giants won 4-3.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Down to his last strike on multiple occasions, Joe Panik came up huge in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Panik slapped a single to right field off of Luke Jackson that scored Kevin Pillar and Mac Williamson, as the San Francisco Giants came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 before a crowd of just 28,030 at Oracle Park.

This was the second walk-off of the season for the Giants, and the second this month, as Buster Posey hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 1.

As for Panik, this was his second career walk-off hit and first since May 1, 2015 against the Los Angeles Angels.

Jackson came on in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he looked for his team-high seventh save of the season; however, in the end it did not happen.

The closer got Evan Longoria to ground out for the first out of the inning, but Brandon Crawford singled to left, then Jackson got Steven Duggar to strike out for the second out of the inning and then Crawford advanced an additional 90 feet on defensive indifference.

Pillar then cut the Braves lead down to one, as he singled in Crawford and then Pablo Sandoval came to the plate. Pillar then stole second to get into scoring position that setup Sandoval for the possible game-tying hit.

Sandoval hit a ball into the hole at third base that Josh Donaldson dove and kept the ball from going into left field that would have tied up the game, and Pillar stayed at third base. Williamson came on to pinch run for Sandoval, and stole second that setup Paniks heroics.

Panik fell behind 0-2 and then the count went to 3-2, and finally on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Panik hit a 95 mile per hour into right field that scored both Pillar and Williamson to give the Giants an improbable victory.

The Braves got on the board in the first inning, as Dansby Swanson singled and eventually scored on a Nick Markakis double to left field.

Panik got the Giants rally started in the bottom of the first inning, as he singled off of Braves starter Julio Teheran, he went to second on a Buster Posey single and then over to third on a Brandon Belt fly ball to left field. Evan Longoria then tied up the game, as he doubled to left field to easily score Panik from third base; however, the rally ended, when Crawford struck out to end the inning.

Both Teheran and rookie Shawn Anderson matched each other inning for inning until the Braves finally got to Anderson in the top of the sixth inning and chased the rookie, who was making just his second major league start.

Donaldson and Markakis ended Andersons night, as they hit back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth inning and that brought on Reyes Moronta, who got Austin Riley to fly out to Duggar in centerfield; however, both Donaldson and Markakis advanced an additional 90 feet. Brian McCann broke up the tie, as he hit a sacrifice fly to Stephen Vogt in left field.

Freddie Freeman extended the Braves up to two runs in the top of the seventh inning, as he hit an opposite field single that scored Ronald Acuna, Jr., who walked with one out in the inning and went to second on a Swanson walk.

Acuna made a huge defensive play in the bottom of the third inning, as he robbed Brandon Belt of a solo home run.

If people that thought Acunas plat was huge, Crawford also came up with two huge defensive plays of his own.

The shortstop snared a Freeman line drive in the top of the third inning that looked like it was going into left field, but Crawford caught the ball to rob Freeman of a base hit.

Crawford came up huge on the defense again in the top of the ninth inning, as Acuna attempted to steal second base and was originally called safe; however, replays showed that Crawford applied the tag on the foot and the umpires went to replay and after a 44-second review, it was determined that Acuna was indeed out.

Paniks two-run walk-off base hit gave the win to Trevor Gott, who is 2-0 on the season, while Jackson falls to 2-1.

Anderson, who was making his second start of his career, went five innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out three, as he did not fare in the decision.

The veteran Teheran went 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walking three and striking out six.

Once again, the Giants helped out, as they went the final four innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking three and striking out two.

NOTES: Vogt started in left for just the second time in his major-league career, and it was his fifth appearance in left field and 17 in right field. Vogt last played in the outfield in 2017.

Sandoval picked up his 10th pinch-hit of the season, and is now 10-for-25 as a pinch-hitter this season.
In 16 career games against the Giants, Donaldson is 21-for-60, a .350 clip with seven extra base hits.

Acuna, who hit two home runs in the series opener on Monday night, has reached base in seven of his 10 plate appearances in the series, as he has walked twice and picked up five hits.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija looks for his third win of the season, as he takes the mound on Wednesday night for the Giants, while left-hander Max Fried looks to raise his record to 7-2 on the season, as he toes the rubber for the Braves.

Giants offense hoovering below the Mendoza Line to start 2019 season

By Morris Phillips

Anyway you slice it, the Giants’ offense is chopped liver.

No main course, just a side dish relegated to a lesser than status. That simply is who they are.

The Giants rank 29th in home runs (10 in 17 games), 29th in batting average (.199), and 27th in runs scored (47) which averages out to 2.76 a game.

There are only 30 major league clubs. Only one of those 30 has yet to score a run in the first inning: the Giants.  Need I say more?

Steven Duggar supposed to set the table. The leadoff hitter is batting .224 with an OBP of .250. On Sunday, Duggar went 0 for 4 and struck out twice.

“It’s something we’ll talk about, how can we get more aggressive and put some pressure on early in games,” said Evan Longoria, when asked about the team’s lack of early offense.

Ok, what about the run producers? Buster Posey’s hitting .220. Not much power from the fading catcher. Posey hit five home runs in 2018, and has yet to homer in 2019. If he hits fewer than five this season, it will mark the sixth, consecutive year his home run total has dipped. If he hits more than five, will he hit 10, 15? Either way his home run total goes, he’s the least likeliest guy a team would pick to hit cleanup with his .298 slugging percentage.

Brandon Belt is hitting .218 and hasn’t driven in a run in any of his last eight starts. Longoria has one home run and a .197 batting average.

Unlike last season when the Giants had more proven offensive threats, there’s really nowhere else for Posey, Belt, Duggar and Longoria to hit but at the top of the lineup. But that quartet has already struck out 64 times.

The Giants rank third in the National League with a 2.75 staff ERA. They can pitch, and the defense is clearly improved. But with these offensive numbers, the margin for error is razor thin. Pitch and play defense? Yeah, maybe for a team with more resources in the lineup, not this club.

The Giants open an eight-game trip on Tuesday in Washington. Dereck Rodriguez gies for the Giants, Stephen Strasburg for the Nationals in a 4:05 pm start.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Joey Bart is all the rage, just how soon will he come up to the show?

sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants catcher Joey Bart has already established himself for his hitting but needs to polish up on some defensive catching. He could very well get called up during the Giants regular season.

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 All the talk has been about young Giants prospect catcher Joey Bart. How soon do you think it will be until he will be in the show on a regular basis?

#2 Once promoted, will he be catcher Buster Posey’s regular back up? There’s so much expected of him, can he live up to the hype?

#3 Bart can swing the bats he had an OBP of .369 and hit .296 in spring training.

#4 Giants announcer Mike Krukow said that Bart has some bad habits. This spring, he has allowed six passed balls and committed six errors, but with some coaching, he can break those habits and with his bat and be a big piece of the Giants future.

#5 Once the National League adopts the Universal Designated Hitter rule, could Bart be a starting as catcher and Posey moving to the DH slot?

Michael Duca covers San Francisco Giants baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants starting to play out the string in upcoming series against the Brewers

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

It’s quite evident that the Giants are not going to make the playoffs – Buster Posey having season-ending surgery and the team trading Andrew McCutchen after a little more than half a season more than showed they have waved the right flag – so they might as well mess things up for teams that are still contending.

They can start with this weekend’s three-game series in Milwaukee against the Brewers, which starts Friday night at Miller Park. The Giants just got finished getting their heads handed to them by the Rockies in Colorado (what else is new?) in getting swept in a three-game series at Coors Field.

So if they are going to play spoiler–or if they think they actually have a chance in grabbing a wild-card spot in the National League–they will need to get things back on track very quickly.

The Giants’ Derek Holland (7-8, 3.56 ERA) will take the ball Friday night against the Brewers’ Chase Anderson (9-7, 3.96 ERA).

Anderson has won each of his last three decisions, and in his last outing, he went five innings and gave up only a run on four hits in a loss to Washington, although he got a no-decision. Holland, meanwhile, has won each of his last two decisions, while he has spent some time in the bullpen this season.

The left-hander went six innings in a loss to the Mets at home–he got a no-decision–and he also gave up only a run and surrendered only four hits in the process.

Chris Stratton (9-8, 4.90 ERA), who has spent some time in Triple-A Sacramento this year, will go Saturday afternoon, and he will face Milwaukee lefty–and former Nationals and A’s standout–Gio Gonzalez.

Stratton has been stellar in his past two starts, although he lost his last outing in a 4-1 loss to the Mets four days ago, when he gave up only a pair of runs on three hits over six innings. The outing before, he shut out the Diamondbacks over eight innings, giving up only five hits and striking out six in a 2-0 win.

On Sunday, Madison Bumgarner (5-5, 3.07 ERA) will take the hill for the Giants and opposite the Brewers’ Zach Davies (2-5, 4.88 ERA).